Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPYI vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYI paid 11.9% of its price in cash against XYLD’s 10.6%, though XYLD returned more with it reinvested.
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Net assets: $12.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF, and $3.4bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF.
About even with SPY
SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
+13.6%
SPYI
+13.6%
11.9% of it arrived as cash
about even with SPY
Total return, distributions reinvested
About even with SPY
SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
+13.6%
SPYI
+13.6%
11.9% as cash
about even with SPY
11.9% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Data to Oct 28, 2026.2.2 pts ahead of SPY
XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
+13.6%
XYLD
+15.8%
10.6% of it arrived as cash
2.2 pts ahead of SPY
Total return, distributions reinvested
2.2 pts ahead of SPY
XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
+13.6%
XYLD
+15.8%
10.6% as cash
2.2 pts ahead of SPY
10.6% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +15.8%. XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Both charts share one scale, 0 to +15.8%. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
XYLD costs 0.08 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.2 points; SPYI is 3.7 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | SPYI | XYLD |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.6% | +15.8% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 0.8% | rose 4.3% |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 99% of the Oct 23, 2026 payment | 93% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | S&P 500, measured through SPY | S&P 500, measured through SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.68% | 0.60% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 | $12.6bn | $3.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 94% | |
How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed
A percentile among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. One year only, and a ratio of two published numbers: it says nothing about where a distribution came from. All income ETFs ranked by it →
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Sep 9, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 215 weekly returns · each against SPYSPYI returned more: +74.4% to +52.8%. XYLD swung less: 9.1% to 11.8%. XYLD fell slightly less at its worst: −14.0% to −14.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPYI | XYLD | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +74.4% | +52.8% | SPYI | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +14.4% | +10.8% | SPYI | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +5.4% | −3.1% | SPYI | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 11.8% | 9.1% | XYLD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 8.1% | 6.7% | XYLD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −14.8% | −14.0% | XYLD (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 68.0% | 39.4% | 100.0% | SPYI | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 80.6% | 53.5% | 100.0% | XYLD | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.78 | 0.52 | 1.00 | XYLD lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 0.73 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.81 | 0.67 | SPYI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.19 | 0.92 | SPYI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.123 | 0.117 | 0.130 | SPYI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.97 | 0.77 | SPYI | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.6% a year | −0.7% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.53 | −0.31 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.8% to +1.6% | −5.3% to +3.9% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.87 | −0.82 | XYLD (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.0% | 8.5% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 215 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SPYI and XYLD hold 94% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.
half
94% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price. Payout rate: the latest payment, annualized, over today’s price.
Window by window
| Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | SPYI | XYLD | SPYI | XYLD | SPYI | XYLD |
| 3 months | +6.4% | +5.0% | 3.1% | 2.3% | +0.3 pts | −1.1 pts |
| 6 months | +8.7% | +9.2% | 6.1% | 5.2% | −0.4 pts | +0.1 pts |
| 1 year | +13.6% | +15.8% | 11.9% | 10.6% | 0.0 pts | +2.2 pts |
| 3 years | +70.2% | +53.3% | 41.0% | 35.1% | −24.8 pts | −41.7 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: SPYI Aug 2022 · XYLD Jun 2013 | +79.8% | +195.1% | 51.3% | 114.5% | −25.4 pts | −320.2 pts |
SPYI and XYLD are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SPYI returned +13.6% and XYLD +15.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.2 points.
- Size. SPYI has $12.6bn in net assets and XYLD $3.4bn (net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026); SPYI is 3.7 times larger.
- Income paid (similar). SPYI paid 11.9% and XYLD 10.6% (cash paid over 1 year, as a share of its price at the start), a gap of 1.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SPYI
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYI paid 11.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +13.6%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was about even. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.4%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Oct 23, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
XYLD
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XYLD paid 10.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +15.8%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 2.2 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.1%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).
Questions people ask
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How this is computed
It is a place in a set, not a rating or a recommendation.
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.
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ETFIQ, SPYI against XYLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/spyi-vs-xyld
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SPYI against XYLD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/spyi-vs-xyld
[SPYI against XYLD (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/spyi-vs-xyld)
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